GAMA: Company Forced To Pay ALL Workers Proper Union Rates

national | worker & community struggles and protests | feature

Saturday May 07, 2005 18:28

by Turkish Workers’ Action Group

Workers call On Company To Resolve Outstanding Issues

GAMA workers call on company to make realistic proposals to resolve outstanding issues of overtime and fixed wage workers

Issue of funds hidden in Finansbank Holland largely resolved for Turkish workers still in Ireland

GAMA has committed to paying the proper trade union rates for operatives and trades

** UPADTE 9TH MAY: Joe Higgins T.D. calls on Commission for Energy Regulation to cancel electricity generation licence to Tynagh Energy unless GAMA agrees to resolve outstanding pay issues immediately **

At a meeting of the Committee of GAMA employees currently on work stoppage, it was decided to call on GAMA management to come forward with a realistic proposal to resolve the outstanding issues, which include major unpaid overtime and the plight of a category of GAMA employees known as fixed rate workers.

The fixed rate employees include such workers as surveyors and drivers. The typical wage would be in the region of €800 per month, but that involved working the same 80-hour plus week as other workers.

GAMA today (Friday May 7th) made a concession and paid a back amount of money to the fixed rate workers equivalent to 42% of their previous wage. This is totally inadequate however as it would mean only an extra €332 for a worker on the €800 a month rate. This would mean that a fixed rate worker here for say, three years would get around €10,000, but a construction operative here for the same time would have had up to €30,000 in Finansbank, Holland.

The GAMA workers on strike today said they would be prepared to call a mass meeting of all workers in dispute, if the company made a realistic offer to the fixed rate workers and also a substantial offer in regard to the outstanding overtime for all workers.

The Committee consider it a major achievement that virtually all their wages that were hidden in Finansbank, Holland have now been transferred to their personal accounts. It is also a major achievement that GAMA is now committing itself to paying trade union rates of pay to all its workers.

The Committee realise that these concessions were won in the wake of the workers hard fight and are determined to continue the fight for justice until GAMA come forward with just and realistic proposals.

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Comments (4 of 4)

article on anarkismo and translation

by jack white - wsm (pers cap)

Fri May 13, 2005 20:20

The first link is to the story on anarkismo.net

Ireland is seeing a militant struggle by migrant workers fighting for the same pay and conditions as Irish workers. 900 Turkish workers and 300 Irish workers are employed by Gama. Under the Registered Employment Agreement for the Construction industry no worker can legally be paid less than 12.96 euros per hour. However Gama paid its Turkish workers as little 2.20 per hour.

http://www.anarkismo.net/newswire.php?story_id=463&condense_comments=false#comment539

and here's the translation by Batur Ozdinc - Ainfos & otonomA & AAI

900 Türk Ýþçisi Ýrlanda’da Grevde
http://www.anarsi.org/haber.php?isl=oku&id=25

Gama Workers Vote for All Out Strike /

by via examiner.ie

Sat May 07, 2005 17:53

07/05/05

Workers at Gama vote for all-out strike
By Michael O’Farrell, Political Reporter
WORKERS at Gama have voted overwhelmingly in favour of official strike action following a month-long series of unofficial stoppages.

In a ballot of Gama's Dublin sites on Thursday, both Irish and Turkish workers voted for all-out industrial action.
Although a formal announcement has not yet been made, union officials last night confirmed that 99% of Gama's Dublin workers endorsed official stoppages in a row over underpayment and alleged wage fraud.
The ballot represents more than 200 Turkish workers and up to 50 Irish colleagues on two Gama sites in Ballymun and another site close to Lucan.

Members of SIPTU, the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) and the Operative Plasterers and Allied Trades Society of Ireland (OPATSI) all participated in this week's ballot. However, it remains unclear whether strike notice will be officially served on Gama as behind-the-scenes contacts between unions, workers and Gama appeared to be making progress last night.

In particular, Gama for the first time indicated, in private meetings with workers and in communications with union officials, that it may be willing to do a deal on millions of euro in overtime payments owed to workers. Formally a spokesman for the company said the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) had been advised that Gama was "available to attend a conciliation conference" following initial exploratory LRC talks with both sides last week. Company sources denied the apparent softening of Gama's previously hardline stance was in response to this week's ballot.

However, unions pointed out that participation in any LRC talks would require workers to return to work a decision yet to be made by the committee of the Turkish Workers Action Group (TWAG), which represents protesting employees. Meantime, a TWAG statement said Gama had committed to paying union rates to all workers and conceded several other issues, including some back-pay to fixed-rate workers. Unlike other employees, fixed-rate workers did not receive a windfall from previously unknown accounts in Amsterdam.

Yesterday's statement said protesting workers would be "prepared to call a mass meeting" to consider any "realistic offer to the fixed-rate workers and also a substantial offer in regard to the outstanding overtime for all workers".
Workers say they have received all the money owed to them from Finansbank in Amsterdam but yesterday pledged to continue their protest until they are paid all overtime owed. Since arriving in Ireland, most workers say they worked an 84-hour week while receiving wages for just 40 hours. Meanwhile, a judicial review sought by the company into the authority of Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin to order a Labour Inspectorate report into Gama is expected to conclude on Tuesday. Until then the report, which has been forwarded to the Fraud squad, the Revenue and the Director of Corporate Enforcement, remains injuncted.